Restaurants in Newton

Owner and head chef of Viva Mexican Grill and Tequileria, Carlos Mendez grew up in Mexico watching his mother and aunts as they concocted labor-intensive food without batting an eye. He would even venture off to the countryside to collect any wild mushrooms they might need. Now at his restaurant, he keeps his culinary traditions alive with his menu of Central Mexican cuisine. Fresh guacamole made table-side prepare palates for forthcoming entrees. Handmade masa pancakes topped with queso fresco join slow-cooked pork carnitas and tricolor plates of chilis en nogada with creamy walnut sauce. Thirteen types of margaritas and chilled coladas and daiquiris cool tongues coated in hot spices.

The festive decor of earthy deep blues, red clay tiles and adobe-colored walls also pays tribute to his homeland, as does a mariachi band. These musicians rove between tables, serenading diners with romantic string and vocal harmonies and the occasional rap battle.

Leaning on more than 35 years of experience championing French cuisine, Sandrine's Bistro's co-owner and chef, Raymond Ost, brings the same blend of classic and contemporary flavors to Cambridge that earned him knighthood from the French government. According to the Boston Globe, Chef Ost began his culinary career at 13 with an apprenticeship in Alsace, France. Today, many of Sandrine's menu items hail from and are inspired by the region, such as traditional tarte flambées made with crispy flatbread and nutmeg-scented fromage blanc. A fireplace flickers off the zinc bar where mixologists craft specialty cocktails, pour wine, and blend liquors from an extensive bar menu. The decor is elegant, with white-draped tables popping against deep-burgundy pillars and sage walls. Chandelier light enlivens an avant-garde mirror divided into geometric shapes, and sumptuous draperies remind diners to pick their togas up from the dry cleaner.

“Who says northerners can’t do ‘cue?” asked Boston magazine as it crowned Blue Ribbon BBQ on its Best of Boston list in 2011. Whether dished out from its two brick-and-mortar locations or its trailer, the restaurant’s tender meats are lauded for their slow-cooked, pit-smoked tenderness, infused with the flavors of hickory and oak hardwoods. Blue Ribbon dishes out memphis dry-rubbed ribs, Texas-style beef brisket, and Kansas City–style burnt ends dubbed “absolutely addictive” by Boston. Locally made hot-smoked sausage and Mr. Whitner’s smoked-turkey-breast sandwiches help round out the menu alongside Southern sides such as dirty rice, potato salad, and corn bread. Blue Ribbon BBQ also caters special events and sells bottles of its most popular sauces so guests can enhance their grandmother’s recipes or add flavor to their super-soaker fights.

Petit Robert Bistro channels the relaxed ambiance of an authentic French bistro where common folk can gather for comforting, affordable fare. Blackboards bearing daily specials preside over the intimate eatery where renowned chef Jacky Robert prepares a menu of homestyle French favorites. Cape Cod oysters, sautéed scallops, and Bay-caught seafood spread across plates, and meat aficionados can fix fangs into chicken dishes or the beef short-rib bourguignon or branch out to cakes fashioned from vegan quinoa. Junior foodies peruse a kids' menu laden with pintsize French favorites, including a parisian hot dog and a 5-ounce skirt steak, with all proceeds going to chef Jacky's charity committed to feeding underprivileged children in the Philippines.

Plates of Turkish cuisine sail through the warmly lit dining room of Saray Restaurant, landing on tablecloths to dispatch kebabs, seafood, and vegetarian entrees straight to palates. The cozy den of Eastern delights has scooped up oodles of accolades with its sesame-flecked pita, including a spot on Boston magazine's Best of Boston 2008 list and praise from the Boston Globe, which called the restaurant "remarkable - and totally authentic."

Hot appetizers such as feta-spangled fried-zucchini pancakes and cold starters of stuffed grape leaves prime taste buds for Mediterranean feasts. Guests tuck into char-grilled striped bass and lamb-stuffed cabbage rolls during breaks between sword fights with kebab skewers dotted with chicken meatballs, lamb, vegetables, and cabbage. At the Boston University–area storefront, a false rooftop creates a village feel, and skillets hang invitingly behind a semicircular window.

At the helm of a glass-enclosed grill, a chef grills skewers of meat, fish, and vegetables over charcoal before serving them to guests seated around him. It’s Basho Japanese Brasserie’s version of a robata restaurant experience—rustic dining that requires guests to sit around a central grill, watching the chef cook the food before he or she serves it to guests on wooden paddles. It’s a type of traditional Japanese dining that’s relatively rare in this country. And yet, what really attracts people to Basho, according to Boston.com, is something that you can get at any standard Japanese restaurant: sushi.

But that’s not a bad thing. The review in Boston.com said of Basho’s sushi: “The restaurant gives the audience what it wants. Sushi and sashimi, ever and always, take top billing. Here, they deserve it.” The signature Basho roll’s thinly sliced asparagus, mushrooms, pickles, cucumbers, lettuce, and fried snow crab peek out from a cylinder of cucumber and soy paper. The Torch Toro roll wakes up taste buds with layers of torched toro—the fatty cut of the fish—and jalapeño. Ingredients for the rolls are flown in daily from around the world.